


Blue Petals Floating down the River

by tatersalad5001



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Relationships, F/F, Family, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Pining, Slice of Life, VRAINS Rarepair Event, vrainsrarepairweeks, we're using dub names here sorry kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:00:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21576427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatersalad5001/pseuds/tatersalad5001
Summary: Miyu never wanted anything more from Skye than friendship. Someone to laugh with and play with and enjoy life and living with. And Miyu wanted that friendship from Skye, not just a link to her brother. When Skye hadn't been sure she'd be able to be happy and make real friends again, Miyu had proved her wrong.Ten years would change anyone. Skye knew she wasn't the same person she was when she'd first met Miyu, and Miyu definitely wasn't the same person, either. Maybe they wouldn't be able to pick up where they last left off, but that was okay. Instead, they could build something new together.
Relationships: Sugisaki Miyu/Zaizen Aoi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5
Collections: VRAINS Rarepairs 2019!





	1. Time and Limits

**Author's Note:**

> vrainsrarepairweeks is here again!! last year i wrote about firestormshipping for the event, and i love firestormshipping, but it's no longer a rarepair. so this time, i'm gonna dedicate the week to one of my other favorite vrains ships, zinniashipping!! miyu/skye is good content yall
> 
> i'll also be throwing up the prompts that i write [here on tumblr](https://datanamines.tumblr.com/tagged/vrainsrarepairweeks) so feel free to watch that each day this week for the newest entry. I'll be queueing everything over on tumblr and posting new chapters manually here so there's a good chance that things will be posting to tumblr earlier than they'll show up here. Sorry about that. My prompts from last year are in that tag on my tumblr blog, too, so if you didn't read those and you enjoy takeru/yusaku, feel free to check those out, too!!
> 
> you can find the list of prompts [here](https://vrainsrarepairweeks.tumblr.com/prompts)!!! hope you all enjoy these!!! thanks for reading

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy! I'm participating in the [Vrains Rarepair Event for 2019](https://vrainsrarepairweeks.tumblr.com/about)!! Last year, everything I wrote for the event was for Yusaku/Takeru, and you can find all of it over [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17113856). This year, it's all Miyu/Aoi (though I'll be using dub names here; Aoi's dub name is Skye), and it will all be posted right here! Every chapter is a different prompt. You can find the prompt list for the event [here](https://vrainsrarepairweeks.tumblr.com/prompts). I'll also be posting every prompt on tumblr, and you'll be able to find it all in [this tag](https://datanamines.tumblr.com/tagged/vrainsrarepairweeks) if you like! Chapters here will be posted manually but everything's already written and queued to post on tumblr, so while the content itself will be the same, the prompts won't be posted simultaneously between both websites.
> 
> I messed up a bit...and set this up on ao3 a bit early. Which means unless I want to set up everything all over again (which will be a huge hassle), I need to post this first chapter 4 days early, on the 26th, instead of the actual first day, the 30th. I'm sorry about that. This'll go up on tumblr on the right day though, and chapter 2 won't go up here until the 31st like it's supposed to. Consider this a sneak peek, I guess! 
> 
> There's not a lot of Miyu in the show unfortunately, but I tried to work hard with what we were given. Between her meeting with Skye in the past, the long time the two were separated before being united again, and Aqua... Also not to mention, not too many characters in Vrains have parents who appear in the show and are still alive. At least Miyu's mom was shown. This gave me an opportunity to put her in a unique position compared to most of the rest of the cast, putting in her a more "traditional" family setting contrasting against most of the rest of the cast, and playing around with that contrast. There's quite a bit of that played around with in these prompts. That, and just, how utterly in love these two girls are with each other. 
> 
> Here's the first prompt for the 29th! Time and Limits! This one focuses a lot on the girls reuniting after being apart for so long, and some of the nervousness and excitement surrounding it.

Skye couldn't stop thinking about how long it'd been since she'd met Miyu. How much time they'd lost.

They hadn't known each other for long, and it'd been years since they'd seen each other. But Skye still considered Miyu to be one of the best friends she'd ever had. Maybe that was stupid. Maybe that was really cheesy. But Skye hadn't ever really had close friends before she met Miyu, unless you counted her brother. And after? Akira worked for SOL Technologies now. That was common knowledge. So most people only ever tried to befriend Skye to get something from her, because of her brother. New duel disks? Something in Vrains? It was relentless, it was obnoxious, and the attempts at friendships were incredibly empty.

At least the members of the dueling club shared the same kind of passion for dueling that Skye felt, but that still wasn't the same. 

Miyu never wanted anything more from Skye than friendship. Someone to laugh with and play with and enjoy life and living with. And Miyu wanted that friendship from _Skye_ , not just a link to her brother. When Skye hadn't been sure she'd be able to be happy and make real friends again, Miyu had proved her wrong. 

They'd had so little time together before Miyu's mother put a hard end to the friendship, but it had still meant the world to Skye. Would Miyu's mother even let them be friends now? 

Would Miyu even want to see Skye again? Skye couldn't help but worry that she didn't mean as much to Miyu as Miyu had to her. That too much time had gone by with too little shared between them. How much had Miyu ever really missed her?

Not to mention the Lost Incident. Ten years would change anyone even without going through something as horrible as that. Skye knew she wasn't the same person she was when she met Miyu, but Miyu probably was a very different person now, too. Skye was sure she'd still like Miyu no matter what, she wasn't worried about that. But even if Miyu had wanted to be friends before, who could say she would still want to be friends now?

"If you're that worried about it," Akira told her one day, "if you want to know that badly, then just go and meet her. Find out for yourself. Then you'll know, and you won't have to worry so much. But I'm sure she'll want to see you again, and I'm sure she'll want to be friends. Why wouldn't she?"

Skye could think of a lot of reasons why. But she hadn't gotten to where she was today by listening to her doubts and hiding behind fear. She was Blue Angel, beloved by her fans and successful even without her brother's permission. When there was something she wanted to do, she did it.

So, fine. She'd go do it. She'd go and meet Miyu again. Maybe they'd pick up their friendship where it left off, maybe they'd start over, maybe they'd never see each other again, but no matter what happened, she was going to try.

Skye talked and thought about the meeting so much from then until the actual meeting itself that Akira joked she was getting ready for a date, not a reunion be friends.

If Skye was being honest, she was open to that, too, if Miyu was. If and when they were both willing and ready, and not before. But she just wanted it to go well. 

Akira went with her to meet Miyu.

And the reunion...wasn't like they picked up where they had both left off. How could it be? So much had happened since then, so much was happening now, and they'd both grown up and changed in the time they spent apart. Their friendship didn't quite pick up where it had left off, but that was okay. Because something new blossomed in its place.

A new friendship, that was still more real than any other Skye had ever had.

And eventually, a romantic love, too. It was Miyu who asked Skye out on their first date. Skye had never been happier to accept anything.

Years down the line, Miyu and Skye would be able to tell people how they'd defeated both time and the limits that had been placed on them as children to be together. 


	2. New Years Wishes

It was Skye who brought up the subject, after a glance towards her watch’s digital display. “The year’s almost over, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It’ll be New Year’s before we know it,” Miyu replied. “Do you usually do anything on New Year’s Eve?”

Skye looked taken off-guard by the question. “I don’t remember ever doing anything. My brother’s always busy. He usually works through it or sleeps through it.”

“He hasn’t changed at all, has he? Still a worksholic.” Miyu smiled as she reminisced. She could almost still remember watching Akira drop Skye off to play while he went to work. Almost.

It was a rough reminder, though, the way Skye talked about the lack of a tradition. She only considered her brother’s life for the possibility of family plans. At least Miyu still had her parents, but...

“You really don’t do anything for New Year’s?” Miyu pressed. “Not even with friends?”

“Nope.” The way Skye just shrugged the question off tugged at Miyu’s heart. Skye needed more close friends. She still pushed people away too easily. But Skye barely lingered on the question. “What about you? What do you usually do?”

“When I was younger, we used to get together with family friends. Watched movies and played games. I remember watching The Lion King of Games one year,” Miyu recalled. “But my parents don’t stay up that late anymore. All I usually do now is watch the ball drop.”

“So you barely have any more plans than me. Neither of us really have a tradition going.”

“That’s why we should make a new one!”

“Huh?”

Miyu could feel her excitement bubbling up as she held Skye’s hands in her own. “Neither of us do anything for New Year’s, so let’s do something together. Make a new tradition, hang out. It’ll be fun!”

“Yeah...” Skye slowly smiled. “That sounds great, actually. Let’s do it.”

They ended up making plans with Takeru and Yusaku. It actually worked out really well. Skye was becoming better friends with the two now that she knew they were Playmaker and Soulburner, and no e of them had anything to hide anymore. Miyu was becoming closer to them through their shared past; it made it easier for the three of them to understand each other. 

They ended up getting together at Yusaku’s small little apartment. None of them expected it at first, but Skye wanted to vacate her home to give her brother quiet to get some much needed sleep, and Takeru had moved back home with his grandparents, which he insisted was too far away to make everyone go. As for Miyu, while her mother was willing to let her hang out with her friends, they weren’t exactly invited to actually come over. 

Whatever. The four of them certainly didn’t need a large space to have a good time. Yusaku set up Super Bomberman on his old tv, and a low quality stream of the ball dropping on his laptop. Miyu brought over some snacks. What more did they need?

“Aw, shit,” Miyu mumbled as she accidentally trapped herself with her own bomb and died again. She wasn’t great at the game, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t fun.

“Hey, you still lasted longer than me!” Takeru cheerily consoled her. He wasn’t too upset about his loss, either.

“Yeah...” Miyu glanced over at the livestream. There was still time before the ball dropped, but... “What’re you guys wishing for this new year?”

“A will to live.”

Takeru rolled his eyes and pushed Yusaku lightly, even though Yusaku was still playing. Yusaku wasn’t phased at all by this. “Ignore him, he’s just joking. I’m wishing for my grades to get better. I’m still really behind in a lot of my classes, but that’s gonna require me to study a lot...”

“I need freedom,” Miyu said. “Being home drives me crazy, I need to get away. That’s what I’m wishing for.”

“Akira’s told me plenty of times you can come over whenever you want,” Skye told her.

Miyu beamed. “Looks like my wish will come true, then.”

“I need a new battery for my laptop.” Yusaku shot his laptop a wary glance. “It’s almost dead.”

Takeru sighed. “You really need to start actually looking towards the future, you know.”

“I am. I need a new battery soon. I’ve stopped skipping class. I invited all of you over.”

Takeru ignored him. “What about you, Skye?”

“Well....” Skye thought it over for a moment. “I don’t know. My relationship with my brother has never been better. We understand each other a lot more now. I’ve made good friends. Miyu’s back in my life. What more could I wish for? All I want is for all of us to be happy.”

The clock struck midnight not too long after that. As it did, Miyu pulled Skye in for a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> with this one, it's really a lot of... i'm invested in skye being friends with takeru and yusaku, and i'm invested in miyu being friends with yusaku and takeru, too. i just really want these four to be friends...   
> the last few years, my family hasn't really had any new years eve plans, and my parents haven't even stayed up until midnight. so all my brother and i have done is just kinda hang out, either play games or watch tv until it's almost midnight, watch the ball drop, go "cool", and then go back to what we were doing. when i was younger, we all always went to new year's eve parties, but...yeah. that might change this year, though. we almost had plans to go out and then that just kinda didn't happen which is whatever, but my parents might try to stay up until midnight this time. might. i don't know what's happening.
> 
> but anyway, this is partially a tribute to how new years has been for me, partially a desire for these four to all be friends, and partially just. gay. yeah.
> 
> anyway, hope yall enjoyed this one!! thanks for reading


	3. Rebirth, New Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Skye’s different Vrains avatars represent different stages of her journey and growth, and there’s different feelings behind them all. Each one’s a sort of rebirth, into different roles with different intentions. It’s only fitting, at the end of everything, for one last rebirth.
> 
> Not to mention Miyu, who we never get to see log into Vrains... A new beginning for her. 
> 
> Funnily enough, at the time of writing this prompt, I didn’t want to go into specifics of Miyu’s avatar or anything in Vrains, but then a week later I was writing a different prompt and I decided then to go into it more, even though at first I intended to avoid the subject. So uh, if you wanted more of Miyu in Vrains, good news!
> 
> Last chapter I think is open ended enough that it can be read as these two not necessarily dating yet, as a first kiss. Or not. It’s kinda up to your interpretation, unless I’m remembering wrong. But this one they’re explicitly dating. And all the ones after this too, I think it remains that way.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Hope yall enjoy!

For too long, Blue Angel had been absent from the dueling scene in Vrains.

Skye never meant for Blue Angel to disappear for that long. She’d tried to balance Blue Angel with her other Vrains activities, but it hadn’t worked out. Blue Girl and Blue Maiden had made far more appearances recently.

As it turned out, entertaining your fans was much more difficult when you were fighting a war to save humanity. It didn’t help that schoolwork had started piling up around the same time, either, and it hadn’t let up since.

This wasn’t meant to happen. But Skye wasn’t going to stand for it any longer.

"Blue Angel's about to make a comeback."

"What sort of event are you planning for this?" Miyu asked. 

"Honestly, I'm not planning anything big. Not at first. Unless you count a duel as an event. Soulburner's already accepted my request to duel against Blue Angel. Maybe I'll do something bigger after that."

Skye was sitting just behind Miyu, braiding Miyu's hair for her, so she couldn't see Miyu's expression. 

“Are you sure? Your True Blue Crew is probably expecting something bigger.” Skye hadn’t expected Miyu to be overly heated or upset about this. And she wasn’t. She was just supportive and curious. Miyu did follow what was going on with Vrains, especially with anything involving Blue Angel, but she was far from a hardcore fan, which Skye definitely appreciated. 

“They probably are,” Skye agreed. Truthfully, she stayed out of most True Blue Crew circles, since it would be hard to act like a fan rather than the real deal. Miyu probably had a better idea of what the True Blue Crew wanted than she did right now, since Miyu lurked in a few of those circles. But Skye saw some of it all just through social media, so she did have some insight. “But Blue Angel’s always been something selfish for me, and even if it’s not better for the crew, it’s better for me. Besides, this will catch people’s attention, and people won’t just be talking about the duel.”

”Oh?” Miyu was still faced away from Skye, but her interest was clearly audible. “What do you have in mind?”

”It’s been too long since Blue Angel really took the stage. And in that time, I’ve changed a lot.” Skye kept her focus on the braid as she talked; she’d thought enough about this to talk about it without thinking much. “Blue Angel started out as an act of rebellion against my brother. Blue Angel did and got to be all the things I couldn’t in real life, and that was my way of dealing with how I felt about everything. But a lot’s happened, and Akira and I figured things out. He’s not as overprotective anymore, he’s not against Blue Angel anymore. So it’s impossible for Blue Angel to be the same anymore, either.” Skye smiled. “She needs to change, too, reinvent herself. And the first step of that I think will be a change in style.”

Skye had modified her avatar many times by now, though never publicly as Blue Angel. As Skye had changed, the appearance she’d carried and wanted to carry in Vrains changed with her. It helped her process the change and find herself in it. It was only fitting to do that now as Blue Angel, as Blue Angel publicly changed.

”Blue Angel with a different look? How different?”

”Not much. I still want her to be recognizable, and she doesn’t need much of a difference, anyway.”

But it would be enough. Blue Angel would be reborn.

”I think it’s a good idea. I can’t wait to see Blue Angel’s new style,” Miyu told her. “And while you’re reinventing Blue Angel, maybe I should finally invent myself in Vrains, too. Come up with my own avatar and everything. It’ll be a new beginning for me.”

”That’s great! I think you should. It’s a lot of fun, and I think you’ll really like Vrains.”

”I’ll try. I won’t try to be anything like Blue Angel. I still can’t believe I’m dating an internet celebrity.” Miyu giggled. “But it’ll be cool. Instead of Blue Gal, I could be the New Gal.”

* * *

As Blue Angel dueled Soulburner, lots of people were talking. But it wasn’t just about the cards or the strategies.

Blue Angel had adopted Blue Gal’s haircut, as well as some other parts of the avatar, like Blue Gal’s fingerless gloves. The clover on Blue Angel’s cheek had been replaced by a purple spade. But a lot of parts of Blue Angel’s design barely changed. The shirt, skirt, and boots were all very similar to what Blue Angel had worn before, though notably, the heart was gone from the skirt. She kept her wings and earrings and tie. 

Overall, her fans loved it.

And the next time Skye logged into Vrains, she was happy to go in with Miyu at her side.


	4. Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one’s got more of those like, tradition vs throwing tradition out the window sort of things going on. This is far from the only prompt exploring it, lol. But you got like, Miyu and her family routed in how weddings are supposed to be according to the world around them, and Skye who isn’t even always aware that it’s there but does enjoy them some of the time. Miyu’s often routed in them without realizing. Miyu doesn’t always want to stick to them. Sometimes Skye likes to dive into them. You know how it be.   
> Anyway. Weddings.
> 
> Hope yall like this one. Thank u for reading

It was a wedding for one of Miyu’s cousins. She wasn’t particularly close to them, and she wasn’t part of the wedding party, but she still had to go.

Officially, Skye went with Miyu as a friend. But to the two of them, they knew it was a date. Skye would’ve worn one of her brother’s old handed-down suits—that’s what she wore to the last wedding she went to— but the night would go by easier if she just wore a dress. So Miyu and Skye wore matching dresses; not the same, but close enough you could tell they were a set.

For the two of them, it was a date.

They stuck together in the outskirts of the reception party. They snacked and drank water and watched Miyu’s relatives make fools of themselves, but they rarely got involved themselves. Skye was pretty nervous, and Miyu couldn’t blame her.

The bride tossed the wedding bouquet. Neither of them caught it. But they both put some effort into it.

“What if we got married?”

It was Skye who asked the question as the two sat down again. 

Miyu snorted over the can of soda she was drinking. “What, right now?”

“Of course not.” Skye giggled. “But the future’s full of possibilities, you know?”

“It could be nice,” Miyu agreed. “We could have a small wedding. Just us, friends, close family. It’d be fun. Although...”

“What is it?”

“You know that old tradition? The bride’s supposed to have something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue during the wedding. But we’d both be brides. Would we both so that, or just one of us?”

“Hmm...it could be just one of us. But why couldn’t we share?” Skye asked. “If we shared, we’d already have all four things right now.”

“We would?”

“Something old. Our friendship. We met while we were still little kids.” Skye counted off each thing on her fingers as she went through it. “Something new. Our relationship. We had to start over when we finally found each other again, but it’s been one of the best parts of my life every step of the way. Something borrowed. During the Ignis War, you let me borrow Aqua. And something blue. I’m Blue Angel, so I’ll always be something blue.”

Miyu blinked.

And laughed.

“What??”

It wasn’t exactly traditional. They couldn’t wear their relationship like a pair of socks. But Miyu had grown into tradition far more than Skye had. Skye always wanted to break out of it, while Miyu was often subjected to its unconscious influence more often than she’d like. 

“You know what? It’s perfect.”


	5. Snowfall, Snowmelt

The rumor spread quickly: Link Vrains had had a change of scenery. Snow now blanketed the digital ground.

Of course, Miyu knew better than to listen to rumors, because she didn’t need to. Skye had already told her before anyone else had breathed a word about it. SOL Technologies had been preparing for a winter-themed event for months. Miyu already knew about the snow. And she knew what would follow with it.

That didn’t make her any less excited about it, of course. She’d been humming winter songs under her breath all day.

As soon as school let out, Skye and Miyu had promised to meet up in Vrains. Just because there wasn’t any snow on the ground in the real world right now didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy the digital snow. And they both kept the promise. Within minutes, Blue Angel and Cassandra had both logged into Vrains.

”Oh, wow,” Blue Angel breathed as she looked at Cassandra. “Sorry, I know I’ve already seen your avatar before, I didn’f forget, but...it amazes me every time. You look beautiful.”

Cassandra couldn’t help but blush.

Miyu had worked hard on her avatar. It was about the same height as she was in the real world. Her eyes were a light pink, her long aqua-colored hair pulled into a ponytail. She wore a long mermaid dress, sleeveless but still having straps. A silver crown sat atop her head, and a blue teardrop was tattooed onto her left shoulder. It was a tribute to both Aqua and Skye. For everything.

They ran around, made angels in the snow. The true event wasn’t going to start for another half hour, and they made the most of it. They played like they were five again. Like children on a snow day from school. They sword-fought with icicles, slid down a snowy hill with their hoverboards.

Then, the event started.

A large igloo the size of a skyscraper rose from the ground in the center of Vrains. A sign at its entrance invited duelists inside. Many hesitated at first, but soon a large, constantly replenishing crowd made its way inside. Cassandra and Blue Angel pushed their ways into the crowd as quickly as they could.

SOL Technologies had been working for a long time on improving their dueling AIs since they’d long ago sent their AI after Playmaker through their own systems. Now they were ready to showcase a new version. Snowmen-like AI waited inside for challengers, each with different strategies and play styles from the rest. Challengers could win winter-themed accessories for their avatars or hoverboards, winter-themed titles to display within Vrains, or, most importantly, winter-themed cards they could add to their decks.

Cassandra knew the importance of accessorizing, both one’s appearance and one’s deck. Blue Angel was eager to see how she stacked up against any and all opponents and improve her game.

They quickly approached two of the AI. The AIs both rose their snowglobe-like duel disks. They were programmed to be able to tag duel as well, and the girlfriends were ready to take advantage of that feature to work together.

It was time to duel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one ended up being the one where I explored ideas for Miyu’s Vrains avatar. It was a lot of fun! Took a lot of inspiration from the Marincesses (merfolk and princesses). A little bit from Blue Maiden and Aqua, too, with Miyu being Aqua’s origin and all. The name of her avatar is more a reference to Aqua’s sort of role within the Ignis group.
> 
> Also, like, being a virtual world? Vrains is the perfect place to have some events where the world itself changes for awhile. Let it snow!! Set it on virtual not actual harming fire!! Bring in some water, turn the hoverboards into surfboards! I dunno. Thought it would be fun for the girls to play in the snow and do some tag duels. I just...didn’t have the energy to actually write out the tag duels but...use your imagination? In the canon in my brain that exists for these two post series, Skye gave Miyu the Marincess deck and Skye uses the Trickstars, and I bet those two would play off each other real well, but...ya boi sick :(
> 
> Hope you’re enjoying these!! Thanks for reading!!


	6. Bad Timing & Disastrous Consequences

_How’s the holiday decorating going?_

It was a simple question that Skye got from Miyu over text. Miyu probably hadn’t thought much of it, but something about it made Skye feel a bit strange.

_Oh, we’re already done._

After all, it’s not that hard when you only have one decoration.

Skye had been over to Miyu’s place recently. Her family was still in the process of putting up decorations. It had already been decorated quite a lot when Skye went over; a holiday tree was up and covered in garlands, card holders hung on the wall, snowmen decorations were scattered about. There was a lot, and it must have taken a lot of work. Skye couldn’t imagine how long they’d been spending on it. But it looked nice. She told Miyu that about five times while she was over.

It wasn’t that Skye didn’t care for decorating. She could appreciate the end result and the effort put into it. But she and Akira didn’t do that for the holiday. Nor did either of them want to.

All they needed was their small plastic flower sitting in a small simple pot that they’d held onto for years. Presents would be place around the flower, and that was that.

Skye loved their way of celebrating as it was. But it made her feel weird because...she wasn’t sure what Miyu would think about it. It was different, and Skye wasn’t sure why, but she felt nervous.

Which of course soon culminated into: Miyu was going to come over, and Skye hadn’t really explained anything to Miyu.

When Miyu first walked in, she looked surprised. “I thought you said you were done decorating.”

”We are.” Skye glanced back towards the living room. “We just don’t do much. But I can show you, if you want.”

She led Miyu to the living room, which was where the flower was. A few presents were already stacked around it.

”You’ve got your presents around...a flower?” Miyu frowned. “Shouldn’t you put them around the tree?”

”We don’t have one,” Skye told her. “We haven’t had one.”

”You don’t have a tree? That’s at least the bare minimum.” Miyu wrapped her hand around Skye’s. “Come on, we’re going to go pick out the perfect tree for you guys.”

”Huh?”

Before Skye knew what was happening, Miyu had pulled her out of her home, and soon the two of them were inside a store.

A significant portion of the store was sectioned off to display trees available for purchase as the holidays drew closer. All artificial, of course. The tree in Miyu’s home was artificial, since a real one was impossible for them. Akira and Skye wouldn’t have been able to have a real one, either. There wasn’t a single real tree in the building, but there were still lots of different trees being displayed. 

Lots of colors. Lots of designs. Lots of tall structures.

Miyu took Skye down a line of them and explained the pros and cons of each one.

”This one’s shorter than some of the others.” Miyu pointed to the tree they were currently standing next to. “But it makes up for that by coming pre-lit. You don’t have to worry about trying to put your own lights around it. And bigger’s not always better, either, since some trees are too talk for some places.”

Skye stared up at the tree. It was green, like many others. And it was shorter. But the lights already on it did bring a lot of different colors to it. It was pretty. Like most of the trees were.

”So, what do you think?” Miyu asked her.

Skye frowned. “Which one am I supposed to get?”

”’Supposed to get?’” Miyu blinked. “It’s not that much like answering a question on a test. You’re constrained by stuff like the height you need, but for the most part, there’s no one right answer. You’ll know it when you see it.”

”When I see it...”

Skye looked up at the tree again. She looked back towards the one they’d already seen, and ahead towards the ones they’d yet to look at. She thought about home, and what was needed there.

”I don’t think there is a right tree.”

”If you don’t like these, that’s okay! We can go somewhere else and look at more,” Miyu told her.

”No, that’s not it,” Skye said. “There isn’t a tree anywhere that’s right for home.”

”What do you mean?”

”I barely remember my parents anymore, so I don’t know what they did to celebrate this time of the year. But for a long time, my brother and I never could have afforded anything like this.” Skye stared blankly towards the nearest tree. “Akira took me to the dollar store, and we found a pretty flower there. A fake one, that wouldn’t wilt.” Wouldn’t wilt like her family had. Wouldn’t wilt like Skye could often feel herself doing back then. “We put it in this cheap little pot, and Akira said that would be our tree for the holidays that year. We didn’t have any presents to put around it, but we still had each other, and he said that was a gift worth celebrating more than any other. We used it next year, too. And the year after that. By the time we could afford something more traditional, it just didn’t feel right. We already had our own tradition, even if it was a strange one. But it was perfect for us. It still is. It reminds us where we came from, and that we still have each other.”

The flower in their home now was still the one Akira bought all that time ago.

Miyu looked up towards the tree, too. “Oh, no...”

”What’s wrong?”

”I screwed everything up, didn’t I?” Miyu turned to face Skye. “I dragged you all the way out here. I never asked you if this was wanted to do, or why you only had the flower. I never considered that you celebrated differently. I shouldn’t have done all that. I’m sorry.”

”It’s okay.” Skye smiled at her. “It’s my fault, anyway. I never told you before, you didn’t know. I’m not upset, and you didn’t mess anything up.”

”Are you sure?”

”I’m sure. I had fun looking at everything with you. And someday, when we have our own place, I think I know the perfect thing for it.”

”What?”

Skye walked back down the line towards a tree they’d already looked at. Miyu followed closely. After reaching a certain tree, the couple stopped to look at. It was a white tree. The tree at Miyu’s home was the same color, and Skye liked it. It was different from most of the others, but it still looked good. This particular tree was pre-lit as well. It was covered in several different colors that made the whole thing beautiful.

”A tree like this will be perfect to put presents around someday,” Skye said.

Miyu grinned. “I think so, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one was a sort of like, a lot of people do a lot of things differently, but sometimes you just don't really think about that and to you the way you do things is just the only right way. i don't mean that in a malicious way. it's like. holidays. people celebrate lots of different holidays and celebrate in lots of different ways. like. my family celebrates christmas and at this point we celebrate more on christmas eve than we do christmas itself. this has changed a lot from when i was younger; a lot has changed, and it's changed in good ways, and i like it the way it is now. it's because our family has grown and people are in better places now than we used to be that it's this way. but some people might barely do anything christmas eve and do most of their christmas stuff on christmas itself. other people don't celebrate christmas at all. there's nothing wrong with any of these. but growing up we always had good fun christmas eve plans for celebrating and being with family and sometimes it just like, hits me when people who celebrate christmas don't do much christmas eve, it's just, weird to me. not in a bad way. it's just different. but it's not something i used to. this is sort of an exploration into ideas like that. where people do things differently and that's not a bad thing. it's something to be celebrated itself honestly. so many people all over the world celebrate this holiday but everyone celebrates it in different ways. any home you looked into on christmas, and every single one, even among the ones that celebrate christmas, and it would be different. isn't that cool? i dunno.
> 
> original scrapped idea for this prompt was that skye was gonna try to make a cake or something for miyu's birthday, it was supposed to be a surprise, then it would go horribly wrong, and skye would feel really bad about it but miyu wouldn't care at all. it's just the thought that matters more than anything and more than anything miyu would just be glad she could hang out with skye. maybe that would've been better, maybe not.
> 
> sorry if none of this made sense at all or like was completely incoherent as ya boi is typing this they're real sick. ya boi apologizes :(
> 
> hope yall enjoyed this!! thanks for reading!! and i hope yall stick around for tomorrow's prompt, the way it turned out, it's my favorite!!!!


	7. Fresh Air, Freedom, Overwhelmed

Once upon a time, there were two little kids who met in a park. Two girls, one named Miyu and one named Skye.

Skye and her brother used to move around a lot, so Skye stuck to herself, not playing much and not trying to make any friends. It felt easier that way when she would have to leave again, if she had no one to say goodbye to. Skye and her brother didn’t want to move around so much, and Skye knew it wasn’t her brother’s fault and never blamed him. She pretended it didn’t bother her at all. But deep down, whether she made and lost friends or avoided friends at all, Skye was very lonely.

~~Once upon a time, there was a beautiful blue angel named Blue Angel. Blue Angel fought lots of monsters. She fought against them alone and acted like she didn’t need anyone else. But secretly, when alone, Blue Angel would cry blue tears because she was lonely.~~

When Miyu first saw Skye, the first thing she noticed was how Skye was alone, not trying to have fun. It seemed very lonely and sad to be that way. So Miyu ran straight towards her and pulled Skye into her own playtime. 

And every day after that, the two of them always played together.

~~One day, Blue Angel was attacked by a large group of monsters. It was too much for her to handle alone. But the other angels quickly came to help her fight back. Blue Angel was surprised, since she often had been mean to them before.~~

Skye had thought it was better to push other people away because soon they would disappear from her life forever. But becoming friends with Miyu gave Skye some of the happiest days she’d had in what felt like a long time. Around Miyu, the void that usually threatened to swallow Skye whole disappeared. Any single day Skye got to spend with Miyu proved it wasn’t truly better to be alone. 

~~But together, the group of angels won the fight. Fighting with the others taught Blue Angel about being a good friend and a kind person. She started acting nicer to others and became friends with the other angels, often fighting alongside them.~~

And from then on, once in awhile, if Skye noticed someone by themself, who seemed to be lonely and sad, she thought about what Miyu would do, and she tried to help, even if it was only a little.

~~And when Blue Angel fought any monsters after that, she would cry blue tears.~~

* * *

When Skye lied to Miyu’s mother to prevent Miyu from getting in trouble, it was incredible brave and kind of Skye to take the downfall. It was also the first act of defiance Miyu had ever taken any part in, even if it was just going along with it.

Miyu liked to very openly be herself. If she wanted to do something, she often just did it. She let herself be loud and energetic and enjoy life because living that way was fun, and that’s who she wanted to be. But she was also pushed into a box of obedience she didn’t know how to find her way out of. Even questioning her parents wasn’t really an option.

Skye, in contrast, was very quiet. She naturally kept to herself. Miyu wasn’t sure if that was natural to her or not. But Skye was also rebellious, and Miyu would come to learn that with time, Skye only became more rebellious as she grew older. She rebelled for herself, for her friends, for the important things in life. And Skye had openly admired much about Miyu for a long time, but Miyu had admired Skye’s rebelliousness, too.

It wasn’t something Miyu was sure she had in her. 

It wasn’t that she didn’t like her home or her parents, but being home, being around them all the time... Miyu found it overwhelming. Staying there too long made her start to feel isolated and trapped, and those feelings started to bring back painful memories. It was hard.

Akira had told her she was welcome over at his home anytime. 

Skye repeated the invitation often; she was always more than happy to have Miyu over. And as Miyu started to open up to Skye more, Skye did her best to understand, and she insisted on it. 

The more time went on, the more Miyu wanted to take them up on it. It was harder to feel overwhelmed around friends.

Miyu and Skye had each taught each other to fly past their limitations into freedom once. They could do it again. Miyu was determined to soar and feel free. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey thanks for coming this one's my favorite one i wrote for this event!!!!!
> 
> miyu and skye are all about freedom man. miyu freed skye from the loneliness and solitude that was crushing her. skye freed miyu from the crushing toll of meeting expectations and being the perfect child that it's just impossible for you to be. and sometimes life is just like...overwhelming. sometimes it's just hard to be home. sometimes it's hard to be family. sometimes you just can't be yourself and you get sick of it. sometimes you just need a break. and i can't imagine miyu never feeling any of that. skye certainly did, in the beginning of vrains.  
> but at least these two have each other through all that.
> 
> this event was a lot of fun to write for, i almost didn't do any of it but i'm glad i did. it was really fun to explore these two, especially miyu, and i love them lots. my work for this year's event might not be as good as what i put out last year, everything i wrote is certainly shorter, but...this was the best i could really manage this time around, unfortunately. as hard as i'm struggling with depression and sleep issues right now, i just don't have the energy to go bigger and better like last year. i really wish i did, but for what i'm capable of right now, i like how these all came out, and i'd prefer coming out with these shorter ones than forcing myself to do more for these and sacrificing my health in the process. for how i'm doing now, these are good, and i like them, and that's all that matters.
> 
> thanks for reading! i hope yall enjoyed everything i wrote for rarepair week. if you haven't yet, make sure you read everything else for rarepair week written by all the other cool people who made content for it (i've barely read anything for it yet admittedly bc i've been sick like the whole time, i haven't felt well enough to actually read since day 1) and if you haven't looked at anything from last year's rarepair weeks, you should! it was amazing! i myself wrote firestormshipping content that you can find under the For Our Dreams series. But everyone did amazing stuff for these events and i'm so glad so many talented and cool people like Vrains and make content for it...yall're a blessing <3


End file.
